Carriers that grip the upper portions of articles to enable the articles to be lifted and carried are known, particularly in connection with the packaging of beverage cans. The basic construction of one such type of carrier includes a panel in which arcuate slots are provided for receiving opposite portions of the can chimes. The bottom edges of the slots engage the underside of the can chimes to support the cans. This design is typically employed in packages comprised of two adjacent rows of cans, so that the elongated area of the panel between the interior slots folds into a wedge-shaped reinforcing rib extending between the sloped upper portions of the cans. In one type of carrier the panel described is the bottom panel of the carrier. Top panel flaps connected to short side panels are glued to the bottom panel, and aligned finger openings in the top panel and reinforcing wedge enable the package to be lifted and carried. Such a carrier, however, often falls short of providing the desired level of strength and is too expensive to produce.
Other can clip carrier designs have been suggested which employ only a single support panel. Although doing away with the top panel results in a lower cost carrier, problems with strength still remain, requiring the carrier to be reinforced in some manner. Unfortunately, the reinforcing means can be as costly as the top panel of the prior art carrier discussed, and can introduce additional forming problems for the packaging machine.
It would be desirable to provide a carrier which retains the benefits of known paperboard clip-type carriers, and in addition provides increased strength and economy of manufacture. Ideally, the carrier should include means to lock the cans in place separate from and supplementary to the can chime locking slots, and should be of a design which can be readily formed by a packaging machine.